Another One

So, August wasn't the only month of surprises. September started off slowly with a trip to the Lake for Labor Day Weekend. A weekend of relaxation until Connor decided he wanted to "swim in the lake". Colin, Ben and I did a double triple take. The lake? Most of you are probably laughing because who goes to the lake and doesn't swim in the lake? Us! There is a pool - who needs the lake? The lake is for driving the boat, looking at it as the sun rises and sets, not swimming! Connor's friend from school stopped by and she jumped right in off the boat so of course Connor wanted to jump in too! Go for it!

He loved it. A few short days later, I had heartburn. I NEVER have heartburn. Like ever. It wasn't bad enough that I needed to even take a Tums. I mean, the last time I had heartburn . . . I was pregnant. Since, I had a dentist appointment the next day I thought, they take x-rays - maybe I should take this old pregnancy test that has been sitting around forever. Fully expecting it would be negative. Like 99.9% sure. Well, it was positive! Surprised again! Wow! 3 kids! My mind started racing. Luckily, my doctors office is so wonderful (thanks Chrissy for the recommendation). I LOVE this office! They saw me right away - like the next day. Sure enough, that old test wasn't expired or faulty. In fact, a quick look showed I am already through my first trimester - WHAT? How does that happen? How can someone who has been pregnant before continue to not know for that long? Seriously, I had NO clue - and heartburn was my only clue (at week 14 1/2 I might add). Since I found out, I haven't felt great - not terrible but not wonderful either. Weird how that happens. I had to have a nap the day I found out but the day before - take one or not - no sweat. Weird. Anyway, so my next mission (besides trying to figure out how to fit 3 kids in our house, who will ride in the back seat since both my kids now get car sick, etc) was to figure out how to tell Connor. He is 4 so he gets it. I have been less than creative breaking the news of pregnancy to our families in the past. Just a phone call or a dinner to share the news. Exciting right! I actually don't even remember how we told Connor about Cora. I know we waited until the big sonogram so we would know boy/girl (I think it is easier to tell a child you are going to have a little brother/ sister than you will have one or the other - wait and see). It is all about managing expectations. Connor is still totally into puzzles. We actually bought a 1000 piece puzzle for his birthday that he and I (and Colin too) slowly put together over a couple of weeks. We plan to puzzle save it and hang it in his room - it is a map of the USA made out of license plates. So, back to the puzzle. I ordered some small blank puzzles and quickly wrote a fairly simple sentence on it. I used different colors to make the assembly faster. We gave it to Connor on Wednesday night. He quickly and quietly worked on the puzzle. I told him after he finished he could read it and there would be a surprise. Here is the VIDEO EVIDENCE. And a follow up Q & A. Make sure you watch both so you can find out boy/girl and the due date! As you can hear in the background, Cora is thrilled!

Shoe Shopping

Since Cora started walking last weekend, I have been ready to go get the girl her first pair of shoes. We actually got 55 pair of shoes from my friend Kelly as hand-me-downs - unfortunately, all of them are too small! I stuffed her feet into the biggest pair and off we went with JoJo to Sikes (where everyone gets the first pair of shoes in Birmingham - even I did). Cora has loved shoes for awhile - trying on Connor's Crocs and showing an interest in all other shoes. I had high hopes that she would be so excited for the trip. She didn't hate it - She also wasn't jumping up and down. She just calmly let us try on shoes and then walked around. Because she is spoiled, she got 3 pair!

Chilling

Waiting

Sneaking a look at herself in the mirror

The goods!

Surprised

I'm not really a fan of surprises. Surprise, right - a control freak that doesn't like surprises! My mom is even less of a fan. Again, shocking. Back in November my friend Mary was down for a visit and Cora's Baptism. She told my mom, in passing, about the 40th Wedding Anniversary Dinner she and her siblings hosted for her parents. My mom, (probably just being polite), said and I quote "Oh, How nice. I wish my children would do something like that for me." And with those few words a Surprise 40th Anniversary Party was born. Since my parents were married Labor Day Weekend of 1972 and we live in the South - the weekend of the actual anniversary wasn't going to work. Football rules and seriously maybe 5 people would have come to the party. So, with football opening early September I chose the last weekend of August for the event. Although there were many moments I thought the surprise was out of the bag. I am happy to report that they were indeed surprised and the party was a great success!

Walking into the party - See, surprised!

The Wedding Party, back together again

Mom and Me, I am wearing her Rehearsal Dinner dress. For a woman that doesn't keep anything - she held onto this dress for 40 years. Luckily I was able to swipe it from her house without her knowing AND fit into it.

Family Photo

Good Friends

and Family

The decorations I did after Connor was in bed each night (because he cannot keep a secret for 2 seconds!). Each night I would work and work and then put away what I had finished only to bring it back out the next night. Plus, I had to hide the evidence from my mom, who is over here often helping with the kids. As with everything on Pinterest - easier in the photo. I made wood block photos using some old photos from the wedding and a few new shots. These were super easy and actually worked like the video said it would.

Close-Up

Before the party, setting up the tables

I tried a photo-to-canvas DIY. Honestly, it didn't look as good as the one on Pinterest but it did the trick. I can probably do another one and it will turn out better. Here is the link

This was the biggest undertaking. When I initially saw the initial I thought "perfect", then I went looking for the actual letter. No luck. JoAnn's was out of D's and J's. I waited and waited. One day I went online and checked again. D's and J's were in stock! So I ordered 2 J's and 1 D for my parent's monogram. Once I started working it occurred to me 1. I should have painted the letters black before beginning and 2. I should have done the D first in case I ran out of pictures/time. I did the J first, then the other J, then the D In the end, I'm glad I did all 3 because it looked really cool above the fireplace (which I didn't know was in the room) and it was far enough away to hide the imperfections.

Finally the food. Delicious with plenty to spare

and favors (Neal, my immensely talented brother-in-law created the artwork for the wine-bottle coozies) The explanation of the graphic (broom and a rose) will have to wait for another day... August left me exhausted. 3 parties and school starting back (did I mention I am the Room Mother?). Stay tuned. The blog is about to start rolling again!

Look Who's Walking

UPDATE - Video changed from private to unlisted . . . Should work now!

We packed up Friday to head to the lake. In celebration of Connor having a teacher workday at school we got Colin to sneak out of work early too! We timed the trip perfectly and Cora slept the entire way. As we pulled up to the house I started not feeling 100%. Nothing horrible. Colin took care of the kids and I rested. As the day went on I felt worse. Ugh. Then out of nowhere. Cora did this. She is now a maniac walking everywhere all the time and far distances. This is great news!

13 Months

I hesitate to start documenting months again but . . . Cora is now 13 months old. See that wet spot on her dress. She is getting her molars and she has been a trooper. It is tough.







She isn't walking. She takes a maximum of 2 baby steps at a time and then resorts to crawling. Although she isn't confident enough to walk she apparently has no fear of climbing on the couches or chairs or slides






You can see from her face the determination and pride. When she talks it is mostly just baby talk but she is starting to try to repeat what we say. Occasionally I will think I hear her say a sentence like "it goes over there". She still loves eating and doing it by herself. She is down to about 3 sippy cups of milk per day. Next week we are going to try to get rid of these soft sippys because they leak and are driving me crazy.

We were at the lake for the start of football. A great time of year.



Afternoon wagon rides . . .
Colin and Ben drove to Atlanta to see Auburn play while I stayed at the Lake with the kiddos.


All clean and ready for the game.



Auburn lost. It was a stressful (i.e filling up on empty calories and wine) game. A win would somehow have justified it. Now I just need to hit the gym and focus on the fact that the rest of the season won't be as stressful. I mean now there is no pressure that Auburn will go undefeated - just hope they win some games!

War Eagle Anyway



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